Refrigerating apparatus



' July 19, 1949. L. A, PHMPP 2,476,906

REFR IGERAT ING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 24, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

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July 19, 1949. 1.. A. PHiLlPP REFRIGERATING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 24, 1944 INVEN TOR.

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irrprrxvsy Patented July 19, 1949 REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Lawrence A. Philipp, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Nash-Kelvinator Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Maryland Application August 24, 1944, Serial No. 550,918

2 Claims.

This invention relates to refrigerating apparatus and more particularly to a household refrigerator having a gaseous refrigerant condenser disposed in an improved manner to prevent sweating around the door of the refrigerating compartment, and wherein the external surface of the cabinet is employed as a heat dissipating member.

An object of this invention is .to provide a refrigerator cabinet having fluidcondensing tubes bonded to its back, side and top walls to dissipate heat efficiently from gaseous refrigerant and to warm the cabinet adjacent the door opening to prevent sweating.

A further object of the invention resides in the use of virtually the entire external surface area of the refrigerator cabinet as a condenser element to improve the efficiency of operation.

Another object resides in the provision of an improved method of securing refrigerant condensing tubes to the interior surface of a refrigerator casing, whereby the condenser tubes are positioned outside of the insulation material to decrease transfer of heat between the condenser and the refrigerated compartment.

Yet a further object of the invention resides in the provision of an improved arrangement for disposing a condenser element in a household refrigerator in such a manner that the device may be economically manufactured and embody high operating efficiency.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, submitted for purposes of illustration only and not intended to define the scope of the invention, reference being had for that purpose to the accompanying claims.

In the drawings, wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views:

Fig. 1 is a front view partly broken away of a refrigerator embodying features of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the right hand side of the refrigerator of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the left hand side of the refrigerator of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the refrigerator illustrated in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a schematic view of a modified form of my invention.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 1, it will be observed that the refrigerator consists of an outer casing 5 formed of thin metallic sheet material. The casing 5 includes the thin metallic back, sides and top walls l0, l2, l4 and I6, respectively. A thin metallic wall It! is joined to side walls [2 and I4.

Suitable insulating material 20, such, for example, as cork, rock wool, etc., is positioned to lie adjacent the walls I0, l2, l4, I6 and I8. An open front inner liner 2|, preferably formed of thin sheet metal having a smooth inner surface, is positioned within the insulating material 20 to form the inner surface of a refrigerated compartment 22. The liner being open at its front provides an access door opening 23 to the compartment 22 which may be closed by a door 25.

An evaporator 26 is positioned within the refrigerated compartment 22, as illustrated, to receive liquefied refrigerant from a refrigerant condenser conduit 34 secured to the inner surface of the external casing or walls of the refrigerator cabinet. The liquid refrigerant absorbs heat from the space within the evaporator and refrigerated compartment 22 and is converted into gas in the evaporator.

The gaseous refrigerant is withdrawn from the evaporator 26 by a motor compressor unit 28 positioned within a mechanism compartment 30 beneath the bottom wall l8 of the refrigerated compartment 22. The motor compressor unit 28 is connected to the evaporator 26 by a refrigerant return conduit 3|. The gaseous refrigerant is compressed by the motor compressor unit 28 and is delivered through a connecting conduit 32 to a condenser pipe 34. A suitable connector 36 connects the conduit 32 to the condenser pipe 34.

The condenser pipe 34 extends through a suitable bushing 38, positioned in the casing bottom wall I8, and extends up the casing side wall I4, approximately midway between the casing back Wall l0 and the cabinet door 20, as illustrated by the reference numeral 40 in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3. The refrigerant condenser pipe then crosses over and extends along the inside of the casing top wall I6, as illustrated at 42 in Figs. 1 and 4. It then crosses over and extends down the casing side wall l2, as illustrated at 44 in Figs. 1 and 2. At this point the condenser pipe 34 includes a backwardly directed loop, as illustrated at 46 in Fig. 2, and is then directed upwardly, as illustrated at 48, to a point adjacent the top 50 of the casing rear wall Ill. The condensing conduit 34 then extends back and forth across the back wall It) in serpentine manner, as illustrated at 52. Upon reaching the bottom of the casing back wall I0 the condenser conduit 34 passes through a suitable grommet 54 in the casing bottom wall 18 and is connected to a refrigerant strainer 56. A

small diameter tube 68 is connected to the strainer 56 to receive liquefied refrigerant therefrom and to control flow of the liquid refrigerant to the evaporator 26. Preferably, the tube 58 is thermally connected to the refrigerant return conduit 3| to provide for cooling the refrigerant en route to the evaporatorthrough the tube 58.

The condenser conduit 34 may be bonded securely to the inner surface of the refrigerator cabinet casing, such as by means of suitable cementitious material having good thermo heat conductivity to insure intimate bond between the condenser conduit and the external walls of the refrigerator.

The operation of the refrigerating system is as follows. Liquefied refrigerant is supplied to the evaporator 26 through the small diameter tube 58 which acts as a capillary tube to deliver refrigerant to the evaporator at a proper rate of supply for desired refrigeration. The motor com pressor unit withdraws gaseous refrigerant from the evaporator 26 through the return conduit 3| and compresses and delivers the refrigerant to the condenser pipe 34. The pipe 34 being in intimate thermal contact with the extenral walls of the cabinet, is effective to dissipate heat from the gaseous refrigerant over a wide area. The gaseous refrigerant may, therefore, be liquefied at somewhat lower pressure than is possible where a less efficient condenser is employed.

From the foregoing it will be noted that the condenser pipe or conduit 34 extends over a large area and accordingly the entire outer casing serves as a large heat dissipating fin for aiding inthe dissipation of heat. I 1

Because of the differences in temperatures on the interior of the refrigerator and the outside thereof it has been found under certain operating conditions that sweating has from time to time taken place about the door opening. This condition is obviated because the condenser substantially surrounds the door opening 23 since the condenser is bonded to the outer casing and utilizes the casing to aid in the dissipation of heat. As shown, the condenser pipe is secured to the outer casing substantially midway between the front and rear of the cabinet. By this arrangement I have found that suificient heat is conducted by the outer casing toward the door 25 to prevent sweatingwithout interfering with the e'fficiency of the refrigerator.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a modified form of my invention. In this view, the casing walls I I 0, I I2, H4 and H6 of the cabinet correspond to walls I0, I2, I4 and I6 of the cabinet shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, and constitute back, side and top walls, respectively, of the refrigerator cabinet.

In Fig; 5, the dot and dash lines are the bendlines I along which a thin metal sheet is bent toform the cabinet casing. The casing walls III), H2, H4 and H6 when bent form a box-like casing 5.

Thermally bonded to walls H0, H2, H4 and H6 is a condenser I34 which may be secured to these walls in the same manner condenser 34 is secured to casing 5. Condenser I34 is preferably a single path conduit which includes sections I49, I44, I46 and I50. The condenser I34 is formed generally in the shape of a serpentine coil. Section I40 is a vertically extending straight length which leads from the motor compressor unit upwardly along the rear wall of the cabinet, and, if desired, may be positioned in the corner of the cabinet at the intersection of walls III) and H2. This section I40 extends upwardly and across a portion of the top wall II6 whence it is substantially midway between rear wall of said casing, said coiled to form sections I44 on the top wall 6. From sections I44, the condenser I34 extends in serpentine formation across the back wall I IOand side walls I I2 and I I4 of the casing. As will be noted, the condenser I34 has the straight runs across the back wall land thecurved ends I46 on side wall H2 and they curved ends I50 on sidewall II4.

condenser sections I44, I46 and IE0 extend toward the front of the cabinet to a point greater than the walls of casing 5 are made of thin metallic sheet material for effective heat transfer purposes. The arrangement of the condenser I34 on the casing walls H0, H2, H4, and H6 also prevents sweating about the. door opening in the same manner as does condenser 34.

Although preferred andmodified forms of the invention have been illustrated and described in detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Refrigerating apparatus comprising a cabinet having an outer metal casing forming side, top and rear outer walls, an inner liner forming walls of a food storage compartment and having an opening for receiving articles to be refrigerated, a door for closing said opening, a machine compartment located beneath said food storage compartment insulation between said liner and casing, a condenser bonded to said casing and including a coiled conduit having one run only on one side wall and in contact with the top wall, and a plurality of runs on the rear wall arranged for conducting refrigerant downwardly on the rear wall with no portion of the condenser being placed closer than substantially midway toward the front of the cabinet, a refrigerant evaporating element for cooling said food storage compartment and a motor compressor unit located in said machine compartment and operatively connected with said condenser and evaporator.

2. In refrigerating apparatus having a refrigerant evaporator and having a refrigerant motorcompressor unit, a cabinet outer metal casing having side, top, bottom and rear walls and having a machinery compartment below the bottom wall for the motor-compressor unit, a metal liner within said casing above said bottom wall forming a food storage compartment cooled by the refrigerant evaporator, a door opening in the front of said cabinet giving access to the food storage compartment, a door closing said opening, and a conduit condenser'engaging the inner surface of said casing in heat transfer relation therewith, said conduit condenser having a'single upright portion extending from the motor-compressor unit along said bottom wall, the upwardly along one of said casing side walls, then across said casing top wall and down the other side wall in a common substantially vertical plane the door and the conduit condenser on said other wall having a loop portion adjacent the bottom wall and extending upwardly between With' this arrangement; the j V said plane and mid rear wall and then extendlns down the rear wall substantially to the machinery compartment. Number LAWRENCE A. PHIL-1P1. 7,422 5 2,102,391 REFERENCES CITED 2,135,091 The following references are of record in the oi this patent:

6 UNITED BTATESPATEN'IS Name Date Steenstrup Jan. 8, 1935 Steenstrup Dec. 14, 1937 Newfll Nov. 1, 1938 Tobey Mar. 5, 1940 Thaxter Apr. 15, 1941 Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,476,906 July 19, 1949 LAWRENCE A. PHILIPP It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows:

Column 4, line 42, after the Word and and before in insert across and;

and that the said Letters Patent should be read With this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Ofi'ice.

Signed and sealed this 20th day of December, A. D. 1949.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Oommissz'oner of Patents. 

